Hepatitis C

My husband, age 52, has always been healthy, never needing a doctor. In October of '99, he went for a physical. All blood levels were fine. He went for minor surgery for a nodule on his vocal chord in November, and had an endoscopy done in December because of stomach fullness. Endoscopy showed nothing. In June, he got a high fever and flu-like symptoms. For a week, the doctor had him in for blood work three times looking for infectious diseases,before finally putting him in the hospital for further tests. A chest x-ray showed pneumonia. He was amazed as my husband had no cough involved with it. He spent four days receiving antibiotics in the hospital. On the fifth day, as he was being released, we were told that one of the tests showed HepC. We were stunned. Alt levels were higher than at the time of his physical in October. Could he have contracted HepC from either of the surgeries he had. Could equipment have been contaminated? He swears he has not been unfaithful and has not injected any drugs. He did for a short time 30+ years ago. We have been married for 27 years. Any information you can give me would be appreciated. We have an appointment with a gastro specialist in a few weeks. Our primary has not been any help at all, very vague with his answers. Is this because he is protecting the surgeons involved?